THE LOVES OF VICTORIA AND ALBERT.

Evening Star, Issue 3430, 18 February 1874, Page 3

THE LOVES OF VICTORIA AND ALBERT.

Of all the matches ever made on earth, we doubt if there has been one more purely the creation of pure love than that of Victoria and Albert ; and we don’t see why a scrap now and then of heart history may not be as valuable and interesting as are a thousand and one other things that exercise the genius of the chronicler, and are paraded with a, grand flourish iu opr histories. One who knew Queen Victoria well, and w]iq was admitted tp fayor and confidence, told tfie story—nof by way of gossip, b,pt in a spirit pf admiration qnd gppdwill—told it at the time fn ordpr thqt the people might know that the life of their youthful and beloved Queen promised a happy settlement, so far as its domestic relations were concerned, Victoria was then twenty yearsof age—she was married in February, 1840, and was not twentyone until the following May. She had worn the crown a year and a-half. Prince Alberts visit to England was drawing to a close, and yet no word had been spoken. The Queen was embarrassed. The Prince of Saxe-Ooburg Gotha would never have dared, unbidden, to speak of love to England’s Queen. She must indicate her preference, and make her admirer acquainted therewith—for tokens of admiration Albert had given in plenty. It was a delicate task for a young lady, hut the Queen lacked neither tact nor perseve-

ranee. At one of the palace balls she took occasion in a quiet nook to present Prince Albert with her bouquet, not a bouquet made up to give away, but the one she had used for her own pleasure and adornment. The hint was not lost on the gallant German. His close uniform, buttoned to the chin, did not admit of his placing the precious gift where he would have honored it, and he immediately drew his penknife and slashed an opening in the breast of his coat, directly over his heart, where he deposited the happy omen. Another hint was necessary. Not yet were Albert’s lips unsealed. The Prince was speaking in glowing terms of the goodness of the people whom he had met in England; of the pleasure he had enjoyed; when the Queen popped the question outright“ If your Highness is pleased with the country, would you wish to remain in it V Albert held his tongue no longer from the words his heart had held for weeks.